A Penny's Worth (6 page)

“Hey you stupid mongrel, get the hell off
of my dog,” someone screamed.

She was torn from her sentimental
thoughts to find Tattoo Lady bending down to pick up her little poodle. To her
growing dismay she also noticed that the woman was pointing at Winston. “Whose
dog is that?” she asked sharply.

“He’s mine,” Penny stated meekly, her
heart pounding.

“Your mutt just bit my dog,” Tattoo
growled as she roughly held out her dog’s little hind leg. There was blood.
Penny glanced worriedly at Winston who was happily running around in circles
with one of the pugs. Winston had decided right at that moment to put his head
close to its private parts.

“I don’t think it was my dog, he has
never bitten a person, or an animal ever,” Penny stated evenly. The blood was
coursing in her ears. She already knew this interaction would not have an
attractive outcome.

Snake Lady laughed harshly. “Oh, so
you’re like every other stupid imbecile that says, oh it’s not my dog, he never
bites, oh, it wasn’t my kid, he doesn’t throw rocks.” She took a menacing step
toward Penny. “I’m sick of people like you and let me tell you something lady a
dog never bites someone until it does bite someone.” She shook her fist—it
blurred the air like something out of a 1970s pop video—and bellowed, “It’s as
simple as that.” She pointed a finger at Penny and added, “Your stupid dog took
a piece out of my Cookie.”

Hell’s bells, but Penny didn’t want to
get beat up at the dog park. That would rate as the lowest moment in her life;
somewhere below Sea Level, she reckoned. She took a deep breath, her
subconscious supplying the mantra: I can defuse this. I can. “Did you actually
see my dog bite your dog?”

Snake Bitch scoffed; it was a disgusting
sound, like a tetchy hippo blowing its nose. “I didn’t
need
to see it happen.
It was pretty clear which mongrel was closest when she yelped out in pain.”

The inevitable crowd had gathered. Back
in school, someone would have been shouting “Fight! Fight!” But these are civilised
adults: they don’t shout it out loud. They merely think it. They were obviously
waiting to see who would threw the first punch.

Penny put her hand out in a pleading
gesture. “Did anyone see who bit Cookie?”

Taking a step back, the growing crowd
offered nothing. Penny was on her own.

“Look miss, I’m so sorry that your dog
was bit, but you can’t say for sure it was mine, and anyway, as I said before,
my dog is not aggressive and he would not bite a little dog for no reason.”

“Are you saying my dog asked for this?”
Snake Woman screeched, holding Cookie closer to her chest.

The blood from Cookie’s hind leg had
gotten all over the woman’s coat and her rising terror was quickly replaced
with a wave of compassion. The woman may be crazy but she clearly loved her
little dog, and Penny could relate to that. She had to do this, regardless of
the circumstances.

She took a deep breath.

She stepped closer to the woman and
gingerly touched her jacket. “What can I do to help Cookie?” she asked. “And if
it was Winston who bit your dog then I am terribly sorry. From now on, I will
watch him closer when he is with other animals.”

Penny swore she could see the tension
lift up and out of the woman like a departing Anger Demon. Her body relaxed,
her face softened, and her voice trembled as she said, “Cookie’s so little,
just look at her, the poor thing is shaking.”

Quickly patting Cookie on her head, Penny
offered to drive the dog to the vet’s. She offered to pay for the coat to be
cleaned and any vet bill. “Whatever I can do, please tell me,” Penny added.

“Well maybe, you know,” the lady drawled—slightly
confused, probably unused to being placated, “I can’t say for absolute certain
it was your dog. I didn’t see it exactly happen, so I’m not going to press
charges or anything, but you should keep an eye on him.”

Penny was relieved to see the bleeding
had stopped and the cut did look minor.

With Cookie clutched tightly under her
arm, Snake Lady left the park. With a great sense of relief, Penny knew the
altercation was over, and she was the one responsible for nipping it in the
bud.

The fight was over, so the crowd, losing
interest, drifted away. Enough of the doggie park for one afternoon, she decided…
the re-energised social life can wait for another day. She leashed up Winston.

As she walked up to the exit gate, an
older man stopped her and said, “I was impressed with how you handled that,
like a real lady you did. Gretchen is a live wire and that situation could have
gotten out of hand in a split second. That crazy woman and her crazy dog live
in my building and the both of them are always looking for a fight.”

She smiled at the elderly man and his
miniature Collie. “Well I’m glad I was able to defuse it. I wasn’t hankering
for a black eye.”

Patting Winston’s head, he smiled back.
“A fine woman such as yourself would never deserve that.”

Smiled demurely, she waved goodbye.
Walking home, she felt proud. She knew she had changed another negative experience
toward her favor. She looked up at a bird flying overhead and it made her
smile. She couldn’t resist saying out loud, “Come on little birdie, take
another crap on me. I can use all the luck I can get. I’m Penny and I’m worth
so much more than that.”

Nurse Reins sat like a grizzled old albatross behind her
clean white desk. Penny was daunted; she looked tough. Reins’ eyes were too
small, giving her a shrewd look. Her frizzy gray hair made her look
unapproachable; and the multitude of wrinkles upon her face, which should give
her face warmth and character, instead made her seem intimidating.

Penny sat opposite her desk and fidgeted
uncomfortably as Reins stared her out for a long, uncomfortable moment.

Finally, her new mentor broke the
silence. Her voice was pinched and a little hoarse. “I don’t normally work alongside
anyone, and if it weren’t for Dr Kittles’ recommendation I wouldn’t be doing
this.”

Taken aback with this disclosure, Penny
tried to compose herself. “Uh, well, thank-you for doing this Ms Reins. I hope
it won’t be too much of an imposition for you.”

Drumming a pencil on her desk, Nurse Reins
curtly added, “It’s been a long time since you’ve performed any of the necessary
procedures that are required in a hospital setting, but given that you do have
RN requirements we’ll see what you remember.” She dropped the pencil with a
clang, stood up, and motioned for Penny to follow. “You’ll be working on the
oncology floor. We need nurses there the most right now.”

“Of course,” Penny chirped, hoping she
didn’t look panicked. Her heart had begun to pound at the thought of Nurse
Reins breathing down her neck, watching her with those squinty little eyes. She
knew she had no choice but to do as she was told. Penny wanted this job badly,
but the fact she’d be working in oncology was something of a bombshell.

That initial trepidation, made physical
by the nervous clench in the pit of her stomach, never let up. Nurse Reins
barely left her side. Throughout the long and stressful day, Penny successfully
took numerous blood pressures, monitored patients’ temperatures, administered
medications, and checked blood counts. The last blood count she checked was for
a young woman who was to have her first chemo session. Penny was about to learn
how to administer the Chemotherapy. She tried to listen very carefully to Nurse
Reins’ instructions.

“Make sure you are always close at hand
if your patients need you, Ms Marins,” she cautioned curtly. “Monitor very
carefully when the chemo is being administered.”

“Oh, of course.” She nodded vigorously.

She assessed her patient to be about
thirty-five. Her name was Charlotte Munsen and her chart displayed advanced
breast cancer. Penny’s heart went out to this woman, who wore a stricken look
upon her face as she watched Nurse Reins administer the chemo through her IV.

Charlotte Munsen noticed Penny looking at
her. She rolled her head dejectedly in Penny’s direction. “I can’t believe that
I actually have cancer, let alone that I’m in a hospital getting chemotherapy.
What the hell happened? Just last month my husband and I were talking about
having a baby.” Tears sprang to her eyes.

“I don’t blame you. Who in their right
mind would want to be doing this? I can’t think of anyone.”

Nurse Reins looked at Penny in surprise.
Uh-oh; she realized she may have said the wrong thing.

Charlotte Munsen burst out in laughter.
“That’s the first time anyone has made an honest statement since I was diagnosed.”
She snorted and continued, “The damn cancer has spread and all I hear is don’t
worry, everything will be fine.” She looked over at the chemo machine and said
softly, “I’ve got so much I still want to do. Everything is not fine and I
don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Walking closer to the woman’s bed, Penny
replied, “You’re going to do just what you’re doing, fight with all you’ve got
to get well again.” Taking the woman’s hand, Penny smiled down at her. “I don’t
see a speck of defeat in those eyes and I’ve seen people face some pretty dim
prospects and come out on top. I’m telling you the truth when I say I’ve got a
really good feeling that you and your husband will be revisiting those baby
plans. “

With tears in her eyes the woman replied,
“I hope you’re right. My name is Charlotte, what’s yours?”

“I’m Penny and I’m delighted to make your
acquaintance.”

“Likewise.”

Nurse Reins butted in to ask Charlotte if she were comfortable. Reins had a funny expression. It was ambiguous: could
be pleased, could be hateful. It was impossible to tell.

As they finished with Charlotte, Nurse
Reins said abruptly, “I want to observe you setting up an IV with the next
patient. And just a piece of advice, I wouldn’t get too personal with the
patients from the get-go either.” Penny felt her stomach clench tighter.

Their next patient was a weary older man
lying listlessly on the bed. His chart revealed that he had been admitted with
acute stomach pain. Then there was the colon cancer: he’d just had half of his
colon taken out three months prior. She smiled at the man but he didn’t smile
back. He looked grumpy, and fed up with life.

Penny sensed Nurse Reins’ eyes boring
down on her. “Please proceed,” Nurse Reins instructed rather sharply.

Looking at the patient’s chart, Penny
patted the man’s arm and said brightly, “Hello sir, we’re just going to insert
a little IV in you today to administer pain medication.”

The man turned to face the wall. “You’re
going to run a little IV? Lady, do you think you’re talking to a two year old?
Since when do they make miniature versions of those horrid things? What you are
doing is dosing me up with morphine.”

Fearfully, Penny looked at Reins. The old
abatross looked back at Penny with her arms folded across her chest. Great,
Penny thought, this isn’t going well at all.

She tried to laugh lightly. “You’re right
sir, bad description and I’m sorry. You’re not feeling well and the last thing
you want to hear is me trying to make light of something.”

The old man didn’t answer. With slightly
trembling hands, Penny began to perform a procedure that she hadn’t attempted
in almost twenty years. The first attempt at inserting the needle in the vein
on the top of the man’s left hand was not successful. Neither was the second
one. The beads of sweat forming across her brow threatened to drip off onto the
man’s arm. Panic began to grip her and she had to stop for a moment to get her
bearings. She found herself pleading silently: Don’t blow this, Penny. Please,
please, please, don’t mess this up.

The third attempt was successful and she
sighed with relief.

Stepping back, she tried to appear as if
she were calm and in control. She patted the man’s hand. “There, there. That
wasn’t so bad now was it?”

He glared at her. “There you go again
talking to me in that baby talk. Stop it.”

Smiling sheepishly, Penny shrugged. She
knew she had messed up again.

A nurse poked her head in the room and
asked Nurse Reins to step out in the hallway. To Penny’s enormous relief, Reins
stepped out to talk to the nurse. But now she was alone with the patient, with
no idea what to say.

She needn’t have worried, though: he had
plenty to say. “By the way,” he began, breaking the uncomfortable silence, “let
me be the one to tell you that you suck at putting in IVs. Shit lady, it hurt
like hell. You’re lucky I didn’t scream out from the pain.” He pointed his
finger at Penny and added, “I saved your ass because I knew that old bat was
watching your every move.” His face didn’t look so grumpy anymore, just sad and
tired. “I do have a heart you know. Maybe it’s a little hard and crusty… or
should I say rusty. It’s been quite a while since I’ve attempted to help a
person out.”

Penny’s face broke out in a huge grin,
and he smiled in return. She was amazed at how much his smile transformed his
face. His eyes became brighter and his features softened.

“You have great teeth,” she said without
thinking.